FOR LITURGISTS & PRAYER MINISTERS | petitionary prayers | song | vocation prayers

During the Year of Consecrated Life and beyond, we encourage liturgy planners to include petitionary prayers in each liturgy that celebrate the lives and witness of those in consecrated life and invite others to consider a religious vocation.

We also hope that you will sing our specially commissioned song, “Wake the world with dawning joy,” and include prayers for vocations in other parish services and resources.


Sample Petitionary Prayers

Song for the Year of Consecrated Life
The editors of VISION Vocation Guide and the National Religious Vocation Conference commissioned world-renowned composer Steven Warner to write a song in honor of the Year of Consecrated Life. The result, “Wake the world with dawning joy,” celebrates the unique and ancient form of discipleship that is known as consecrated life and, inspired by the words of Pope Francis, urges men and women religious to continue to wake the world with their witness.
We hope you will incorporate this special song in your worship and prayer services throughout the Year of Consecrated Life and beyond to remind each of us of Christ’s call to wake up the world and live in a different way—a way of faith, hope, love, and joy! (Download the score and audio files here.)

Other Vocation Prayers

Prayer for Discernment

God our Father,
You have a plan for each one of us,
You hold out to us a future full of hope.
Give us the wisdom of your Spirit
so that we can see the shape of your plan
in the gifts you have given us,
and in the circumstances of our daily lives.
Give us the freedom of your Spirit,
to seek you with all our hearts,
and to choose your will above all else.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.

—Based on Jeremiah 29:11-13

Prayer for Vocations
LORD of the Harvest,
BLESS young people with the gift of courage to respond to your call.
Open their hearts to great ideals, to great things.

INSPIRE all of your disciples to mutual love and giving—
for vocations blossom in the good soil of faithful people.

INSTILL those in religious life, parish ministries, and families with the confidence
and grace to invite others to embrace the bold and noble path of a life consecrated to you.

UNITE us to Jesus through prayer and sacrament, so that we may cooperate
with you in building your reign of mercy and truth, of justice and peace. Amen.

—Pope Francis. Adapted from the Message on the 51st World Day of Prayer for
Vocations. Order or download a PDF file of this prayer here.

Prayer of Thomas Merton

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.
Nor do I really know myself. And the fact that I think I am following your will does
not mean that I am actually doing so. 

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have
that desire in all that I am doing. And I hope that I will never do anything apart from
that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may
know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me. And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.

—From Thoughts in Solitude (1956)

Prayer to Our Lady for Vocations

Most holy Virgin, who without hesitation 
offered yourself to the Almighty 
for the carrying out of his plan of salvation, 
pour trust into the hearts of young people 
so that there may always be zealous pastors 
who are able to guide the Christian people on the way of life, 
and consecrated souls who may know how to witness, 
in chastity, poverty, and obedience, 
to the freeing presence of your risen Son. 
Amen. 

—Pope John Paul II, Message for Vocations Sunday 2001

Prayer of St. Ignatius

Dearest Jesus teach me to be generous
Teach me to love and serve you as you deserve,
To give and not to count the cost,
To fight and not to heed the wounds,
To toil and not to seek for rest
To labor and to look for no reward,
Except that of knowing that I do your Holy Will.
Amen.

Prayer for a Generous Heart

Father in Heaven, you have blessed us with many gifts.
You chose us before the world began,
To be your adopted sons and daughters,
And to live through love in your presence.
Give us wisdom and insight to know your purpose;
Give us courage to follow where your Spirit leads us,
Give us generosity to serve you in our brothers and sisters.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.

—Based on Ephesians 1:3 ff.

Prayer of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are
meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your
soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love.
It is there for each and every one of us. Amen.

—Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

FIND MORE VOCATION PRAYERS HERE.

Please feel free to send along your suggestions for more Petitionary Prayers or Vocation Prayers to the VISION editors.